Wool-cleaning machine.



J. R. MILSON. WOL'VULEANING MAUHIE.

APPLIUAT-ION FILED NOV. 8, 1909. Y 4

Patented N0v.14,1911.

3 SHEETB-SHEET 1V Y, Tranny vide a machine for rapidly ties,as ,on .thewestern ranches, 1t has be.- .-come a racticeby the owners of thedifferl by exposure to the elements and cannot be poxtlon to which themarking mixture has adhered, are separated from the rest of the woolinto lots, known in the market as fies through my machine all of theforel l' rangement of driving gearsl ,sin

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'JOHN' R. MILSON, OF WATEBTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB, BY MESSEASSIGN- MENTS, 0F ONE-HALF T0 ARNOLD LAWSON, OF WINCHESTEB,MASSACHUSETTS.

WOOL-CLEANING MACHINE.r

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JoHN R. MILsoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Watertown, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWool- Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had there- .in to the accompanying drawing.

This invention has for its o ject to proand efectunlly cleaning orremoving paint, tar, and other similar substances from wool clippings,and the like, without the aid of injurious dissolving chemicals oracids. Where sheepare raised in lar e quantient her s to Ina-rk or brandeach sheep with paint, tar, asphaltum, or other suitable mixture thatcannot be washed away or removed dissolved Vexcept by chemicals or acidsof such strength or nature that they will also destroy the fiber of thewool. When the sheep 1s sheared these marked tufts, or that paint andtar clippings which, owing to the great diiliculty of cleaning the same,are of comparatively little value and are disposed of at a verylow priceto be worked up into an inferiorclass of goods. By passingthese socalled paint `and tar clippings matter is completely removed leaving t ewool entirely clean and restored to its original qualit and value.

Wit these and otherobects'in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described andparticularly vpointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompan in 1 is a sectional si cleaning machine.

drawings: Figure e e evation of my wool Fig.- 2 is a plan view of themachine. Fig. 3* is an enlar d detail showin the construction of the rstset of 'rolls w ich operate upon the wool as it is carried therethroughby the apron of. wire netting. Fig. 4- 'illustratesL-the'ar- Vloyedforeac 'set of rolls. Fi 5 is a etailV illusis a detail perspective viewshowing a portion of the contlnuous apron of wire netting. Fig. 7 is adetail of the liquid sprinkler p1 e. V, 4

eferring to the drawings, 1 designates a large elongatedl tank forretaining' water, or other cleansing liquids, the same to be constructedof any size or material. The tank shown may be divided by partitions 2in to any desired number of' compartments, in the present instance 8being used. Ilhis tank may 4"be supported from the floor by legs3,

or'other suitable means. A set oi* roll sup- 'portin frames 4 'arepreferably formed Vindepen ent of the tank and bolted, or `otherwisesecured to each of the tank partitions 2. In the first roll frame ismounted a lower roll 5 faced with rubber, or other suitable lexible oryieldable material. This roll is mounted in'suitable bearings in saidframes and rotated through the shaft 6.

The upper roll 7 in this first frame is .mounted on shaft 8 and ispreferably of brass and provided with a corrt gated or toothed en aginsurface, see 3, for the purpose o brea 'ng up and separ ating the lumpsor bunches of tar and paint so they may be more eife'ctivel acted uponby the succeedin 'set of rol This shaft 8 is mounted 1n suitablejournals 9,'which are adapted to be ad'usted andpressed downward by aflexi le tension through the spring 10, screw 11 and hand'wheel 12.

Each pair of pressin rolls 13V and '14, mountedin' the other rames, maybe like the first pair, with the exception that the upper brass roll ,13instead of bein corrugated like roll 6 is preferably provied with, asmooth working surface.

apron of any desired form and constructed of porous, vascular, or othersuitable material havin apertures or cells; of anyV form or nature mtowhich the paint and tar' .on the wool may be forced and ietained, may beemployed, but for convenience I preferably use a continuous belt 15ofwire netting having a mesh of suitable size for receivlng and conveyingthe wool. 'lhis belt is led over the driving` pnlleyl between, the firstpair of pressing rolls 5 and El, thence 1,65 around a pulley 17 tolmmersethe `wool in (the first compartment, thence between` the` 'secondpressing rolls into the liquid. in the' next compartment,` and so onbetween the trting the apron agitating roll.

different 4p rolls and @own nu ,the im'.

different tank compartments alternately throughout the length of thewhole machine, after which it is led over the rear pulley 18 and backover the pulleys 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and' 24 into the auxiliary or aproncleaning tanks 25 and 26 beneath the mam tank. This first tank 25 maycontain powerful dissolving chemicalsfor softening and removing thepaint and tar from the meshes of the apron, lwhile the second tank 26may contain a neutraliaing acidl or other cleaning material from whichthe apron emerges over roll 27 as clean and fresh as when it started,thence continuing on around roll 28,V over the driving drum 16l andaround again throu h the same cycle as before. In order to facllitatethe cleanin of this apron while passing through the dierentcleansingsolutions I have" provided a shaft 29, see Fig. 5, with outwardlyextending arms 30 arranged to rotate in the auxiliary tanks 25 and 26beneath the apron, to come in contact with the same intermittentlywhereby the apron is raised quickly and allowed to fall, causing theliquor to circulate rapidly back and forth through its meshes to assistin removing the paint andtar therefrom.

- Located 1n the rear of each set of pressing rolls is a draft, drawingor pulling roll or member 31 which ,is preferably constructed of aplurality of radial engaging arms 32 or outwardly extending vanes, theouter edges of which vanes are arranged to rotate in close proximit vtothe oppositely moving adjacent face o the upper resser roll for thepurpose of clearing or ireeing the same from any wool that may becarried over, while the lower edges of the draft roll just clear andmove in the same direction with, but considerably faster than theadjacent face of the wirescreen. This draft roll is driven by anysuitable mechanism, not shown herein at a somewhat higher speed than theapron whereby it is caused to enage. the wool and pull some of the tuftsfrom the paint or tar which has been previously pressed into the meshesof the apronY bythe presser rolls, at the same time turnf ing over andsp out other pieces of wool so that upon .passing through the next setof presserrolls said tarred portions may be in a position to be pressedinto the meshes of the apron to again be acted uponl by the nextsudraftrolls, andsbon, until all .of the wool has been drawn away orseparated from the tar and deposited in a perfectly clean condition atthe end of the machine, the majority of the tar and paint` beingretained in the .meshes of the apron and. carried down into the tankwhere -it is removed before the apron is again called upon to performthe same operation.

In order to facilitate the separating or removal of the paint and tarfrom the wool vbetter prepare thesame to after 'each operation of thepressing and draft rolls upon the'same, it is carried down into the dierent compartments and immersed in a bath of soap suds, or othersuitable solution, which may be either hot, warm, or cold, as desired,for the purpose of softening and loosening the paint and tar, allowingthe same to be more readily pressed and retained in the meshes of theapron while being acted upon by the next succeeding set of rolls. Atrough 33, open on its upper side, is located just outside of the firstpair of rolls for receiving and conducting away any dirt or water whichmay be squeezed out of the wool in passing through said rolls, and an anlar screen 34 is located under each succeeding set of rolls for thepurpose of receivin any dirt or foreign matter which may rop from thewool in passing through the rolls and prevent the same from beingdeposited in the tanks.

The two pressing rolls in each set are driven in tlme -wlth each otherthrough ars 35 and 36 while the draft roll or memr is driven somewhatfaster than these rolls through the gear 37 and intermediate gear 38.This latter gear is mounted on thear-m 39 which is slotted at 40 so thatitmay be readily adjusted to engage gears of dilferent sizes on thedraft roll so that the speed of the latter may be readily changed andregulated to suit different conditions under whlch the machine may beoperated. In order that l each set of rolls shall run -in time withtheothers they are connected and driven through sprocket chains 41 whichlead from one set to the next throughout the length of the machine.A

Water may be admitted to the tank through the supply pipe 42 and itvvmay be pumped from thls last compartment to the first compartment bmeans of thepump 43 and pipes 44, saidY first compartment be- 'ingdralned through the outlet pipe 45, or any suitable or convenientmeansmay be employed for supplying these different compartments with therequired cleansing or softening solution, In order to further assist insoftening or clea the aint or tar from the wool, and also in the apron,I haveprovided a perforated pipe 48, see Fig. 7 or other similar orsuit-` able device, whereby a cleansing solutionmay be impelled by'meansof a pump 49 through the pipes 50 and forced through the aperturesin this sprinkler pipe onto the wool while Vbeing conveyed b the apronto more eifeetively operated upon and cleaned by the separating devices,the liquid under pressure also serving the .paint and apron. Thesesprinkler pipes 48 may be located in front of each set of presser rolls,

om t e holes to remove, to some extent, tar from the holes in 'the ifdesired, as shown in Fig. 1, or'in anyother suitable osition.

The operation of my improved wool cleaning machine may be more fullydescribed as follows: Theso-,called paint and tar clippings after beingseparated from the rest of the woolareplaced in the usual feeder 46,which feeds or deposits the same through the mouth portion 47 'onto thevtraveling apron of wire netting 15, whereby the wool iscarried forwardto be first acted upon by the roughened or irregular surface )f thecorrugated roll 6, working against the lower roll 5, to break u andseparate the lumps of tar and tufts'o wool, and to ress portions of thetar into the meshes othe wire netting.` Upon emerging fromv these rollsthe draft roll or drawing member-31 engagesl and pulls the, tufts ofwool from :he tarred portions which have been pressed into the meshesofthe wire, also stirs up, ipreads and distributes the other tufts sozhat their tarred portions may come in con` fery soft and pliablewhilethe upper roll s preferably smooth and hard and may be Ldjusted `by thehand wheel 12 to exert a' :trong yet yielding pressureV on the tufts fwool as they pass therethrough, whereby `he tar, paint or other stickyor pliable foreign matter, is forced down into the neshes of the wireand firmly retained herein. As the apron .passes along the [raft roll ormember engages these tufts f wool and pulls and frees the same from hepaint and tar now held fast in the neshes of the wire. apron and alsoagain tirring up andl re-positioning other tufts f wool, after whichsaid wool isagainimnei-sed in a suitable solution and the operaion ofsqueezing and pulling and freeing he wool from the foreign, matter isrepeated ygain and again until this so treated wool s eventuallydeposited from 'the last rolls n a perfectly clean condition andrestored o its original quality and value.

My inventionis not `restricted to the preise construction andarrangement of parts erein shown and described, as any device aving awool receiving apron and means 1 said apron for receiving and retaininoreign matter contained in said wool an leans for pulling, freeing orseparating the fool fromsaid foreign matter so retained, fill fallwithin the spirit and scope ofmy for receiving invention, 'onepracticalembodiment of which has been herein illustrated anddescribedwithout attempting to show al1 of the various forms and modifications inwhich the invention mi ht be embodied.

Having thus describe my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by ters Patent, is:

v1. .A device of the character described comprising wool receivingmeans, adapted to return foreign 'matter attached to said wool,

ymeans for forcingsaid foreign matter into lsaid receiving means, andlmeans for pulling and freeingfthe matterso retained. Y v

2. lIna wool-cleani lmachine, a traveling `apron`for-receiving"andfcarrying the wool, adapted to receivegand retainforeign matter retainedin said wool, means for for:- ing said foreignmatterinto saidapron, and

wool from said foreign means forpullingand freingthewool from saidforeign matter-soxretained Y '3. In a wool cleaning machine, -atraveling apron of porous material'forreceiving the wool, means forforcing foreignn nattter contained lin saidwool into thep'ores of saidmaterial, and means` for'pulling and sepurating the wool from rsaidforeign matter 'retained in the pores of said material.

4. In a wool cleaning machine a wire netting forreceiving the wool,means for forcing foreign matter contained in said woolv into themeshes-of said netting, and means for pullingand'freeing the wool from said*foreign matter retained in the meshes of said nettin 5. In awoocleaning machine, a traveling apron of wirenetting orv receiving thewool,

means for forcing `foreign matter contained o p in said wool into themeshes of said netting, and means for pulling and Vfreeing the wool fromthe foreign matter retained in l the meshes of said netting. i

6. In a wool-'cleanin machine, a traveling apron of wire netting orreceiving the wool, means for forcing foreign matter contained on saidwool intothemeshes of said netting,

means for pulling and-freeingfthe wool from the forei 'matter retained"said netting, and mean'slgforcleaning said wire apronil* 7 In a woolcleaning machine, a continuous traveling belt or apron of wire nettingrthe wool, pressing rolls for foreign matter contained in saidubsequently forcin wool into the meshes of said netting, and4 means forpulling and freeing the wool from the foreign matter retained in themeshes of said netting.

' 8. In a wool cleaning machine, a continu ous travelin receiving ancarrying the wool, a pair of its layer of wool is designed-topass, saidVVthe meshes. of

belt of porous material for.

.pressing rolls between which said belt and rolls being' adapted toforce theforeign mat- 130 ter contained in said wool'into'the ores of,

said material, and means for pulling and lfreeing the wool from theforeign matterl retained in the pores. of said material.

9. In a wool cleaning machine, a continuo us traveling belt or apron ofwire netting for receiving and carrying the wool,-'a pair of (pressingrolls between which said apron an its layer of wool is designed to passsaid rolls being adaptedto force the foreign mat,- ter contalnedv insaid* wool into the meshes of said netting, and means for pulling andfreeing the wool from the foreign matter retained in the meshes of saidnetting. c

' 10. In a wool cleaning machine, a continuous traveling belt or apronof wire netting for receiving and carrying the wool,

`a palr of pressing rolls between which said forcing foreign mattercontained in said wo'ol into the meshes of said netting, and a rotatablemember adapted to engage, pull,

i and free the wool from the foreign matter retained in the meshes ofsaid netting.

12. In a wool cleaning machine, a continuous traveling lbelt kor apronof wire netting for receiving the wool, pressin rolls for forcingforeign matter contained 1n said wool into the meshes of said netting,and a rotatable member adapted to engage, pull and free the wool fromthe foreign'matter retained in the meshes of'saidnetting.

13. In a wool cleaning machine, a continuous traveling belt or apron ofwire netting yfor receiving the wool, pressing rolls for forcing foreignmatter contained in' sald wool into'the meshes of said netting, atatable member adapted to engage, pull Iand free the wool from theforeign matter retained in the meshes of said net-tin and means forsubsequently cleaning the orelgnl matter from the meshes o f said wireapron.

14. In a wool cleaning machine, a continuous traveling belt or apron ofwire netting on which the wool is deposited, a plurality of sets ofpressing rolls for forcing the foreign matter contained in said woolinto the meshes of said netting, and means adapted to operate after eachset of rolls for pulling and freeing the wool from the for-` eign matterretained in the meshes of said netting, .said pulling and freeing meansbeing also adapted to .agitateand re-position Y on the netting theremaining free portions 15. In a wool cleaning machine, a travelingapron of wire netting on which the wool and wool through a liquid bathin said tank,- between each set of pressing rolls to facilitate theeffective action of the pressing rolls thereon, and means adapted tooperate after each set of pressing rolls for pulling and freeing thewool from the foreign matter retained in the meshes of said netting..16. In awool' cleaning machine, a traveling apron of porous material onwhich the wool is'deposited, a plurality of 'sets of pressing rolls forforcing foreign matter contained inthe wool into the pores of saidapron, a tank, a guide roll for conducting the apron and wool througha'liquid bath` in said tank between each set vof pressing rolls, meansadapted to operate after eachv setof pressing rolls for separating-thewool from the foreign matter retained in the pores -of said material,and means for subsequently cleaning'the foreign matter from c saidapron.

17. In 'a wool cleaning machine, a continuous traveling apron of porousmaterial for receiving the wool, means'for forcing foreign mattercontained in said wool into the pores of said apron, means for pulling'and separating the wool from saidforeignvv matter retained in the poresof said apron, v a cleansing lbath into which the apron is subsequentlysubmerged, and means for vibrating said apron while in said bath.

18. In a wool cleaning machine, a continuous traveling belt of wirenetting, a plurality'of sets of pressing rolls for forcing foreignVmatter contained in the wool into the meshes of said netting, a liquidbath to vwhich the'wool is subjected, means adapted to operate aftereach set of rolls forl separating the wool from the' foreign matterretained'in the meshes of said netting, said 'separating means beingalso adapted to reposition the remaining free portions ofthe wool onsaid netting, a cleansing bath to whichthe 'apron is subsequentlysubjected for removing the' foreign matter from its meshes, and meansfor .vibratingsaid apron while in said b ath.

l In testimony whereof I aiix my signature Y lin presence of twowitnesses. i

JOHN R. MILSON.

Correction in Letters Patent No.1,008,426.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,008,426, grantedNovember 14, 1E 11,

upon the application of John R. Milson, of Watertown, Massachusetts, foran improvementin W oel-Cleaning Machines. an error appears in theprinted specification requi ring correction as follows: Page 8, ljne 76,for the Word return read retain; and

that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the ease in the PatentOffice.V

Signed and sealed this 12th day of December, A. 1911.

E. B. MOORE,

[SEAL]

